Governor, Legislature Agree to Generational School Budget

“Michigan kids win today. This is a generational budget for our children,” said State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice. “After years of school underfunding, the FY23 budget has the potential to be the budget to which we point in the future as the pivot point in the strengthening of public education in Michigan, the year when we made the most substantial strides toward adequate and equitable school funding. Great work on the part of the governor and legislature, and the many others who contributed to make it happen.”

The new budget includes a $450 per pupil increase in the state’s foundation allowance and additional increases for students with disabilities; economically disadvantaged students; English learners; students in rural and isolated districts; and career and technical education programs. The new $9,150 per pupil foundation allowance is the highest in the state’s school funding history.

The budget also includes increases for early childhood education, early literacy improvements, student safety, and student mental health supports.

“This is an important budget for the children of Michigan that will help drive strategic investments to improve education outcomes throughout the state,” said State Board of Education President Dr. Casandra Ulbrich. “I applaud the strong bipartisan efforts of Governor Whitmer and the state legislature to put children and educators as a top priority heading into the next school year. Michigan has the resources now to build a stronger foundation for all kids to succeed from their earliest years, and the governor and legislature have stepped up in a big way with this budget.”

Dr. Rice praised the governor and state legislature for funding many of the recommendations that the Michigan Department of Education has promoted over the last few years and particularly the last eight months, especially in the areas of adequate and equitable school funding, including different costs associated with educating students with different needs; teacher recruitment to help address the state’s teacher shortage; and student mental health supports.

The governor and the legislature worked together on a budget that supports all of the state’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan goals designed to concentrate energy and resources and set success measures to help stakeholders coalesce around common education goals.

The following are major highlights from the FY23 state school aid budget that align with the various goals of Michigan’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan that will help drive further improvements in student achievement:

Goal 8 – Provide adequate and equitable school funding

• Per pupil foundation allowance increase of $450 (5.2%) to $9,150 per pupil
• An additional $480.7 million to continue building a weighted funding model to address the different costs associated with educating students with different needs
  • $223 million increase for economically disadvantaged students
  • $246 million increase for students with disabilities
  • $1.3 million increase for English learners
  • $438,000 increase for students in rural and isolated districts
  • $10 million increase for career and technical education programs
• $475 million in a School Consolidation and Infrastructure Fund to create healthier and safer schools for students

Goal 7 – Increase the numbers of certified teachers in areas of shortage

• Teacher Recruitment - $575 million
  • Pays tuition costs up to $10,000 per year for eligible students
  • Pays $9,600 per semester for work as a student teacher
  • $305 million for MI Future Educator Fellowships
  • $50 million for MI Future Educator Student Teacher Stipends
  • $175 million for Grow Your Own programs for support staff to become teachers
  • $15 million for Troops to Teachers
  • $10 million to ISDs to recruit and hire career and technical education (CTE) instructors
  • $20 million to Teach for America

Goal 3 – Improve the health, safety, and wellness of all learners

• Student mental health supports – an additional $245 million
  • $150 million to districts for discretionary mental health needs
  • $25 million increase to existing funding for teen health centers
  • $25 million increase in existing mental health grants to intermediate school districts (ISDs) for mental health professionals and school mental health centers
  • $45 million to ISDs for TRAILS implementation
• Student safety – an additional $210 million
  • $168 million to districts for discretionary school safety needs
  • $25 million to districts to hire school safety officers
  • $15 million for cross-system intervention supports
  • $2 million to create a school safety commission

 Goal 1 – Expand early childhood learning opportunities

• $34 million increase for the Great Start Readiness Program
  • 1,300 additional slots
  • Full-day allocation increased to $9,150 per child
• $7.1 million increase for EarlyOn to help educators identify early learning and developmental challenges in children